Esther O'Connor, The Caves

Published on Friday 26 June 2009 09:12

FIRST La Roux went in for the kill with a slew of catchy singles, and now there's another redhead set to take the music industry by storm.

Glasgow singer Esther O'Connor's debut album, Right Here, has been causing some stir since its release in November, despite not having the backing of a major label. It has picked up countless glowing reviews, with one of the most memorable describing it as "Neil Young meets Beyonce round at Joni Mitchell's house".

It's not just the hacks who've been hailing the daughter of Wet Wet Wet bassist Graeme Clark, either. Paolo Nutini admits to being a big fan (the Paisley crooner regularly covers her song Running On Empty at his gigs), while radio jocks Tom Morton and Vic Galloway just can't stop spinning her songs.

On the back of such high praise, comparisons with her Scottish peers were inevitable ("It's time for KT, Sandi and Amy to make room...", exclaimed one newspaper), but it's O'Connor's unique sound – a combination of pop, country and folk – that marks her out from the crowd.

The 24-year-old, who plays The Caves tonight, says her influences go way back: "I've got quite a lot of vinyl in my record collection, people like Bonny Rait and Janis Joplin, James Taylor, Carole King and Joni Mitchell – these fantastic greats. Fleetwood Mac is another one.

"Because I've been inspired by this fantastic music from the 60s and 70s, there's a retro feel to my own music. I love people that use music to connect and tell stories."

O'Connor's had plenty time to hone her own songwriting skills. "When I was 15 or 16, my dad bought me my first guitar," she recalls.

"He'd gone down to Jimmy Moon's, a local Glasgow guitar-makers. He found a wee acoustic guitar that he thought was the nicest one he'd ever played in his life. It was my birthday coming up, and so he sold a guitar that he used to play with Wet Wet Wet in order to buy it for me.

"That was a real vote of confidence in my songwriting – and obviously it gave me the tools of my trade."

As you'd expect, her father was a huge influence on her getting into music in the first place. "Because of what dad does, my brother and I very much grew up in the music business," she says. "We grew up going on the road with the Wets. Obviously, for a young child, it was fantastic seeing the shows and experiencing the whole touring thing. I suppose all that gave me a bit of knowledge of the business, too. As I was surrounded by it from an early age, it became a familiar environment.

"My dad's also directly very encouraging – he's still so passionate about music and coming to the gigs and stuff. I think it's nice to watch his kids (O'Connor's brother Jamie is also a musician] going into what it was he did. And for my mum, too. In their 20s, my parents were travelling around Europe in a Transit van doing the whole rock 'n' roll thing. It's been such a huge passion for them that I think it's nice for them to see that live on."

O'Connor went into the family trade early. Having made good use of that guitar her dad bought her, she signed a contract with EMI when she was just 17 while with the band Ashton Lane. Now a solo artist, she runs her own record label, the aptly-named Redhead Records. Established three years ago, she feels it gives her more freedom than being signed to a major.

"I was just a wee teenager when I signed to EMI," she recalls. "I was in a band called Ashton Lane that I'd put together. We did that for a couple of years, then it all kind of fell apart. It was then I took a bit of time out from music. Because I'd gone into music very young, I questioned if it was really what I wanted to be doing, as any teenager does when deciding on a career," she continues. "Then, about three years ago, I realised that I really missed doing music as my job.

That's when I set up my own record company – releasing my first solo album in 2007, and my second last year."

O'Connor's soon-to-be-released new single, Lost Innocence, is about those times when life pulls the rug from under you. But, she says, there's hope in there, too.

"It's an interesting one," laughs the singer. "I guess the song's a juxtaposition of a nice, happy melody and fairly serious lyrics.

"I guess it's kind of about those times in your life when you're thinking that you've got a bit of a blueprint – a bit of a plan. We all do that from time to time, but sometimes life doesn't play the game and you end up in a situation you wouldn't have chosen to be in.

"You have to make the best of it and try and find a way to move on."

With her new single receiving plenty of airplay ahead of its release in a fortnight, tonight could be the last time audiences in Edinburgh have the chance to see O'Connor play a modestly-sized venue like The Caves.

"I'm really looking forward to it," she enthuses. "It's going to be with a full band, and it's a really fantastic line-up. It will be very high-energy show, and I'm sure it will be a fantastic night.

"I love playing Edinburgh and always get good vibes from the crowd there."

Esther O'Connor, The Caves, Niddry Street South, tonight, 7.30pm, 10 (9), 0131-557 8989